Battle For The Known

Everybody always wants to know. What’s the best in tech? Where is it going? What’s the next new device? We are your source for new tech gadget, and you already know that. So, we went above and beyond to reach out to our tech insiders to get their opinion on where technology is going, just how fast it is going. Take it away Oscar Martin (Our insider at Dell Computers in the product division):

So we have all heard of Moore’s law right? Technology will double in processing speed and power exponentially, but also get cheaper as time passes. See this chart if you have no idea what I am talking about. We all know this. This as well as Zuckerberg’s law- people will becoming increasingly social with more personal information than ever before, at an exponential rate. But, the piece of the puzzle that is hidden from view, for all of this data, is the size of computing devices today. An external variable in Moore’s analysis is that computers devices are also getting smaller at an alarming rate. Not at the same rate as the up-curve of the previous chart, but still at a high rate.

When you look at the computing power of a cell phone, you can see that in a period of merely years, we were able to take a supercomputer from the 1990’s, maximize that computer’s ability 20 fold and put it in the palm of your hand, when before it was a 2,000 lb hunk of steel. It is also an interesting things for workers on the cusp of high end technology. The reason is because this is where all of the money is. All of the money is here. For instance, now we would looks at the hunk of steel and the original creator (IBM), and say- “ Gee Wiz. For this hunk of crap, I wouldn’t pay the guy $25 for that.”. But, at the time, it was revolutionary, and that guy, is not a billionaire, and he has a yacht, and people that drive him around in limos all the time.

But that is all beside the point. The point I want to make, is just where should you be, on the fringes of tech? You want to stay just ahead of the wave, like a surfer. If you are too far forward, you risk creating a product that is 10 years too far ahead of its time. Think Napster, Myspace, or Odeo. Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn says that he had the idea in the early 90s- even before facebook was around. Hows that for ahead of the curve? But he was smart about it, as he did not start developing it instantly. He knew that his tech was too far forward. I think that this is where you want to be, and you want a nurture an idea from this phase.

To the contrary of popular belief, you are better off being a late adopter, than too far forward. When you are a late adopter in founding a tech company (in essence, the company you are founding, a similar competitor already exists and the product has been around for some time), you are to build upon what you know already works. the reason markets evolve, is purely from demand, and demand only. A unique spin on an idea, that already has demand, is ideal. Plus, marketing theory always opens the doors for competition, even if you are doing the EXACT SAME THING! Look at the battle between Lyft vs. Uber. Uber was first, and wil always dominate a large portion of the market, probably the higher portion. But Lfyt, got to the consumers minds seconds, and in their perspective, is the # 2 alternative. Lfyt still makes profit and is the major competitor to Uber, and second in market share. The exact same ideas. You would rather make a spin on something that we KNOW works, rather than the UNKNOWN.

The unknown is always riskier, as there is no data to support your idea- only theories and conjecture. But, you have to venture into the unknown, if you want to be the first in the customer mind. The more risk can lead to more reward, but has a higher percentage of failing . When your idea is partially known, and data exists to support your theories, you can measure progress, and still make serious money as the upside. It is the balance of known data supporting your idea, the testing to validate, provide value and be unique to the other guy doing the same thing that creates business. These guys have great ideas on business, so be sure to check them out, as I tend to tune in to their valuable tech talks- https://www.facebook.com/Entrepreneur-House-1006294456081720/timeline/.